Today was a strange one. This morning was normal Reilly emptied a full huge bottle of Bold 2 in 1 into the washer, emptied a tub of gravy granules and a packet of oats over Miss Rabbit, put my shoes in the paddling pool then proceeded to have THE biggest meltdown I’ve ever seen.  This one involved screaming at the top of his voice and trying to get his foot stuck in the letterbox.  The neighbours must honestly think we are crackers.  This was the type of episode where it does not matter what I do or say it’s got to run its course so all I can do is make sure he’s safe.

 

After approx 45 minutes calm was restored and I needed to get out the house. I ventured out to the softplay at Concordia in Cramlington, Shane was already there at the bowling alley with Ellis and his friend.  The lady on reception was an absolute diamond.  She gave me tons of info on  how and what was available to Reilly via Active Northumberland.  Unfortunately Reilly wasn’t interested in softplay one bit and saw the clip and climb as a much better focus for his attention, trying to get a foot on to scale the massive walls with no fear what so ever.  The staff in there again were fantastic and also gave me details of autism activities such as trampolining etc.  I love it when staff are understanding and make us feel welcome it makes such a difference.

I had no idea what Reilly would think of the bowling alley it’s quite dark and noisy but again he loved it, had to be retrieved from half way down the lanes and attempted to get his legs in the bowling ball dispenser but other than that he was happy. Result.

We nipped across to McDonalds with the boys but the play area was closing.  I had a quick chat with a lovely girl called Rachel and explained Reilly had been in with school 2 weeks previous and that he would expect to go in again because well that’s just what he does. Rachel allowed us in on our own and pulled down the shutters half way.  This equalled 1 happy Reilly which equals 2 less stressed parents.  We chatted to Rachel and Manager Michael while eating and they were incredibly inquisitive as to how they could be more helpful to families with autism. What a difference a bit of understanding makes to our little families.

      What a stark contrast to the bad experience we had when I first started this blog.  I feel like autism acceptance is growing.

Well done Cramlington keep it up. ⭐️